Form for boots or shoes



(No Model.)

W. L. O. NILES. FORM FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

No. 594,551 Patented Nov. 30, 1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER L. C. NILES, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

FORM FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,551, dated November 30, 1897.

Application filed December 2, 1896. Serial No. 614,2i9. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER L. C. NILEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Forms for Boots or Shoes; and I do hereby declare the'following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7

The present invention relates to forms for boots or shoes used by salesmen, shoe manufacturers, dealers, and others to place into sample shoes to properly fill out and give shape to the same while being displayed for inspection and sale, such being commonly known in the trade as display-forms.

The object of the present invention is to produce a strong yet light device of this class above designated which is simple and cheap and so constructed as to be readily inserted in and removed from a shoe.

To this end the present invention consists of a shoe-form constructed and arranged as will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section a form embodying the same. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan view; and Fig. 3, a transverse section upon line :0 00, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A represents the form, which comprises a hollow shell of the general contour of a last for a boot or shoe, which in order to give the desired shape and strengthen the form at this point. At the rear or heel portion the edges are provided with inwardly-bent flaps or ears a, which are secured to the bottom of a block or brace B, the other end of the block or brace B being secured to the under surface of the top or comb of the form.

The block or brace B is conveniently formed of wood or other suitable light and strong material and maybe of any suitable shape in cross-section, it being shown in the drawings as circular, and it is provided with a bore or bearing 1), which forms a spindle-socket, so that the form when desired may be supported upon the usual spindle.

In order to strengthen the ball portion of the form against lateral strain, I have in practice provided a lateral compression-brace O, which may be of wood or any other suitable material, and bears upon opposite sides of theball portion of the form adjacent to its lower edge. The brace maybe conveniently constructed with tapering ends 0, which take into bearings in what I have termed the end restsiD D, which are secured to the walls of the form A. The ends of the brace 0 do not pass through the end rests D, but are held from contact with the'walls of the form A thereby.

In order to facilitate the insertion of'the form in and its removal from a shoe, I have shortened the bottom of the form A by removing the lower portion of the back of the heel, as shown at E. I prefer, however, to leave a sufficient portion, as F, of the back of the heel to engage the counter of the shoe to hold it firmly in position on the form.

It will be noted that my improved form, as hereinbefore described, can be built up upon the ordinary last or follower without other forming device, thus dispensing with the use of expensive molds and dies required in the construction of the types of hollow forms and lasts heretofore proposed in the art.

Having thus described my invention, 1..

claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A form for boots or shoes comprising the hollow body portion open at the bottom and having inwardly-turned flaps, and a rigid vertical brace secured to said flaps and the top of the form, substantially as described.

2. A form for boots or shoes comprising the hollow body portion, and rigid vertical and lateral braces within said body portion, substantially as described.

3. A form for boots or shoes comprising a hollow rigid body portion, and a rigid vertical brace within said body portion, located at the heel portion of said form and supporting the comb thereof, substantially as described.

a. A form for boots or shoes comprising a hollow body portion and a vertical brace within said body portion, located at the heel portion of said form and supporting the comb thereof and a spindle-socket Within said brace, substantially as described.

5. A form for boots or shoes comprising a hollow body portion, end rests secured to opposite sides of the ball portion of said body portion and a lateral rigid brace extending,

between said end rests to prevent lateral compression, substantially as described.

(3. A form for boots or shoes comprising a hollow body portion open at the bottom and having the lower portion of the heel removed, from a pointslightly below the comb of the form at the back thereof, and extending to a point approximating the central portion of the heel, substantially as described.

7. A form for boots or shoes comprising a hollow body portion having the lower portion of the heel removed, and a vertical brace adjacent said cut-away portion, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

XVALTER L. C. NILES.

Vitnesses:

A. E. WHYTE, A. O. ORNE. 

